TECH cocktail is LinkedIn

October 25, 2006

I am happy to report that TECH cocktail now has home on one of my favorite web services, LinkedIn. This will allow all TECH cocktailers to stay in touch, grab drinks and do business in between events. If you want to sign-up for the TECH cocktail LinkedIn group please follow this link:

https://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/2211/51F5EB27B64D/

It may take some time to get into our account and approve you after you apply so please bear with us.

Frank and I are really excited about this new group and are eager to hear any success stories that have come out of TECH cocktail so please e-mail us. See you all at TECH cocktail 3!

Special thanks to Rick Klau for the LinkedIn group idea.

Posted by Eric Olson | Filed Under Chicago, Event, TECH cocktail, techcocktail1, techcocktail2 | Leave a Comment

TECH cocktail in the Sun-Times

October 23, 2006

TECH cocktail 2 was profiled in the Chicago Sun-Times today by columnist and MidwestBusiness.com president Brad Spirrison. Brad’s write-up focused on what the future of TECH cocktail could be and Brad mentioned that he was unclear as to whether or not we had a motive behind TECH cocktail. The answer to that is simple: we do have a very clear two part mission (aka motive) behind TECH cocktail and it is as follows:

Tell the technology story better in Chicago and other underserved technology markets
Have fun doing it

I hope this clears up what we are all about and a big thanks goes out from us to Brad and the Sun-Times for highlighting TECH cocktail today. If anyone has any questions about TECH cocktail or would like to sponsor future events please feel free to e-mail Frank and I any time (info on the “about” page). Thanks again for your support everyone! We’re starting to get some great press both on and off the web and that’s a good thing for everyone in the community.

Posted by Eric Olson | Filed Under Chicago, Event, TECH cocktail, techcocktail2 | Leave a Comment

TechCrunch Profiles Startups Present at TECH cocktail 2

October 23, 2006

TechCrunch has published an overview of several of the startups that were present at TECH cocktail 2. This is great news for all involved as TechCrunch will no doubt generate some interest in all of the companies. It is great to see tech in the midwest being showcased on a national and international level. Thanks for publishing the write-up Mike!

If you guys like the article make sure to digg it here.

Posted by Eric Olson | Filed Under Chicago, Event, TECH cocktail, techcocktail2 | 1 Comment

TECH cocktail 2 Video

October 22, 2006

Lambert Smith of Stone Cliff Productions has done it again. Lambert was gracious enough take part by capturing TECH cocktail 2 on film. Thank you Lambert! If you are interested in using Stone Cliff Productions to produce similar work (i.e. video marketing, web streaming, business expo
trade show video displays, CD video business cards, corporate
business events, milestone celebrations or just want to be Internet famous) please be sure to contact Lambert.

Click the image below to watch the video…

Or visit a video site directly below:

TECH cocktail 2 Video on Google Video

TECH cocktail 2 Video on YouTube

We hope you enjoyed your stay, it was good to have you with us - look for TECH cocktail coming soon another day.

Posted by Frank Gruber | Filed Under Chicago, Event, TECH cocktail, Video, techcocktail2 | 2 Comments

TECH cocktail 2: Wrap & Thank you

October 13, 2006

Thank you to everyone who came out to make TECH cocktail 2 such a good time. We had over 350+ guests, some of which were from Google, Orbitz, Cars.com, FeedBurner, Apartments.com, AOL and a number of other companies.

Special thank you to our sponsors midPhase, mk Capital, Coastr, Liquid Talk, Chicago.com, Digital Bootcamp and Chicago Enterpreneurial Center. Thank you to the Gramercy for the sleek venue and special thanks to Vonage founder Jeff Pulver for dropping his black AMEX card for an open tab of drinks at the event. Thanks to midPhase for driving guests home in stretch style via limo. The Chicagoist did a nice job capturing some the details of the event and the limo situation. If you are interested in sponsoring the next TECH cocktail be sure to email us, Frank Gruber or Eric Olson. Oh and black AMEX cards will continue to be welcome at TECH cocktail events.
Thank you to all companies that performed demonstrations: eSigma, GrubHub, Pawky.com, Planypus and Time59. We are pleased to have them sharing their products and stories with the community.

We were happy to announce the launch of a new job board at the event called TECH cocktail Specials found at: techcocktail.com/jobs. It is an effort to connect employers and jobseekers with sweet new gigs just like you might search for that cocktail special at your favorite happy hour location (hence the name). The idea formulated as we were getting a constant flow of employers looking for good people to fill some openings after TECH cocktail 1. More information on the job board to come in an upcoming post.

Many thanks to our three video crews that captured the event, Liquid Talk, Stone Cliff Productions and Technology Evangelist. We look forward to seeing the videos online soon. Be sure to check out TECH cocktail 2 photos now! We had a number of photographers and bloggers in attendance and we thank you - be sure to tag your blog posts, videos and photos: techcocktail and TECHcocktail2.

Finally, thank you to everyone that attended to make the evening so much fun - we could not have done it without your funloving support!

Posted by Frank Gruber | Filed Under Chicago, Event, TECH cocktail, techcocktail2 | 18 Comments

Make Your Thoughts Liquid at TC 2

October 11, 2006

To demonstrate the energy coming out of TECH cocktail, we want to hear from you live, at the event (yes, even if you’re a little tipsy - it’ll be more fun that way!). Have you - Found a developer? Someone to share your concept? Share your success? One of our sponsors, LiquidTalk Networks, a podcast technology company, will be recording a video podcast of any attendees that wants to speak up about a special connection they made at TECH cocktail 2 (or 1 for that matter).

The podcast will be promoted on techcocktail.com and via YouTube, Google Video and the rest of the video sites. The more we all speak up about the benefits of TECH cocktail for entrepreneurs, technologists, VC’s, etc. the better each future event will get! So, make sure to make your thoughts liquid at TC 2.

Posted by Eric Olson | Filed Under Chicago, Event, TECH cocktail, techcocktail2 | Leave a Comment

Technology Evangelist Crew Headed Down For TECH cocktail 2

October 10, 2006

Technology Evangelist, a site dedicated to better living through technology, will be sending a team down from Minneapolis, Minnesota to cover the festivities at TECH cocktail 2. The team of Ed Kohler and Ben Higginbotham is looking to chat with event attendees about innovation, technology and other related mumbo-jumbo.